From a photograph by Solomon D. Butcher of four daughters of rancher Joseph M. Chrisman, at their sod house in Custer County, Nebraska. From left to right, Harriet, Elizabeth, Lucie, and Ruth. Photographed in 1886.

Monday, December 07, 2009

Yarn Store Adventure

Enchanted Yarn & Fiber in Russellville, KY

Saturday, I went over to Russellville (KY) with Keely, Taurus, and Isaac. It's only about 35 miles from here, but we don't go there very often. Keely was on a mission to find a yarn store she had heard about (Enchanted Yarn & Fiber), and the rest of us went along for the fresh air and change in scenery.

Keely started crocheting when she was seven years old. I showed her how to do a chain stitch. She mastered that quickly, so I showed her how to single crochet. From there, she branched out. I don't know how many scarves, hats, afghans, and baby blankets she has made since then, and I'll bet she doesn't either.

Several of the ladies at Keely's workplace are knitters, and Keely has learned to knit since she started working there. She started with socks, moved on to hats and gloves, and she's now working on a fancy, lacy, alpaca shawl that she is going to wear on her wedding day.

All this history is background to an understatement: Keely really likes knitting and crocheting and yarn. She was so happy to wander around the yarn shop and choose a skein of nice yarn for a future project. (Knitters and crocheters have stashes of yarn just like quilters have stashes of fabric.)

The proprietor of the shop said that she is planning to increase the "specialty yarns" she carries. I guess those would be yarns that are harder to find. I did see many beautiful and unusual yarns. I saw on several labels that the yarn was made of or contained silk, and one group of yarn was made of sugar cane.

I think that "fiber" refers to a raw material, and it becomes "yarn" after it's spun. In the fiber category, I saw some braids of dyed wool, and some bags of silk thread that had been ravelled from silk fabric. The instructions said that the silk threads could be spun to make silk yarn, or they could be spun with other fibers to achieve special effects.

When we were at the Fort Massac encampment earlier this fall, we saw some Leicester sheep, so I was interested to see this Leicester wool for sale. Leicester is said to be a favorite wool of hand-spinners because it has long fibers. (And, of course, Keely would like to learn to spin.)

I have a feeling that if I keep hanging around with my daughter, I'll be visiting this shop again. (And again and again.) I may have to revive my crocheting skills.

7 comments:

I think I've made around a dozen afgahns, and about half that many baby blankets. I've been telling people I've made about three dozen scarves, but that may be a low end estimate. And probably about that many hats. I've started trying to keep pictures of everything I finish, since I give most of it away.

Woof thanx fur your concern, G. It seems I've turned into a tweeter instead of a paw-writer. But I haven't really. Just got behind on paw-writing. Not as fast as I used to be, you know. I'm 12 now. ^-^

IT IS STILL BEST to be honest and truthful; to make the most of what we have; to be happy with simple pleasure; and to be cheerful and have courage when things go wrong.(Laura Ingalls Wilder, 1867-1957)